Neverlander: The Epilogue
by t.j.guard
Summary: An epilogue in eight parts to the Neverlander series, which ties up a lot of the loose ends in the series and is meant to give a general conclusion to the plot.
1. Violent Magic

Neverlander: Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.  
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Violent Magic

Bae sat cross-legged in the clearing, listening and reaching out as far as his sensitivity could allow him. He felt only the magic his father brought to that world. Finally, he opened his eyes. "That's it, Bae," Morraine said from her place at the edge of the clearing. "We're going back."

"What about the woman in the car?" he asked. "She hasn't moved since we got here, and there's no way of knowing what she wants."

"Can you feel her?"

"I can feel whatever's swirling around. If she's cloaking herself, she's doing a good job of it."

"Either way, is he here or not?"

"No."

"Then we're going back."

He strapped his quiver to his back and picked up his bow. "Ladies first," he said, gesturing to the forest. She smiled and walked down the path he indicated.

He started after her when he felt his heart literally stop. He sank to his knees and let out a cry. Morraine stopped and turned toward him, nearly dropping her bow in the process. "What is it?" she asked, pressing his shoulders back to get a better look at his face. "What's happening?"

Bae gasped. "Go...back," he said. "Tell...tell Papa...tell Papa that...that something's happening here...something...something bad...the magic...compromised."

"Bae? Bae, what do you feel?"

"Something...breaking...like...like an...earthquake." She pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"I'll tell you what I'm not doing: leaving you here. Come on."

He stumbled along beside her down the path back into Storybrooke. He managed to recover a regularity in his breathing, even though the very act started to burn and his limbs started to shake. "Oh, gods," she whispered. "It's getting worse. Hold on, Bae. Just hold on." They crossed the bridge and made their way to the square, but the woman from the car was standing between them and their destination. "No," Morraine whispered, already sensing what this brown-haired woman was about to do.

She released him and stood between them, ready to square off against this crazy woman she didn't know for the sake of her Robin Hood. He straightened and began to work out a path around them to the square, but instinctively he sensed that the closer he got to the woman, the more he would burn inside. It was almost like she was...destroying him.

"You're right," the woman said, looking squarely at Bae. "Now, you've got two options: you can stay here, or you can die."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Morraine asked.

"Standing up for your love, here, are you? How sweet." She flicked her wrist and sent them both flying down the street. They tumbled over the pavement. Bae coughed and struggled to his feet.

"Stay down," Morraine said, and she looked over her shoulder at the woman. She stood and faced her again, and once the woman was close enough, she moved to punch her. The woman blocked, but Morraine pulled back and made a second move toward her. Again, the woman saw this coming and dodged.

"You think you're special, don't you? Well, guess what, you're not. You can barely save him." This earned the woman a kick in the stomach and a punch to the face. Then Morraine grabbed the vial, turned to Bae, pulled him to his feet again, and ran off with him.

"Where're we going?" Bae asked.

"Shh, trust me, Bae, please."

She pulled him into the pawn shop and bolted the door behind them. She leaned against it, panting, and Bae sank to the floor. His breathing was extremely labored, and he was coughing severley. "It's okay now," she said.

"No, her magic..." His words were lost to another coughing fit.

"We're going to solve this. We're going to get to your father and it's going to be okay, I promise. Everything's going to be okay." He nodded.

OUAT

Michael walked into the main hall. "There's news," he called. All eyes now fell to him. "Magic across the bridge is being actively worked against, some would say destroyed, albeit slowly."

"Bae?" Belle asked. "Is he safe?"

"So far as I can tell. I feel no death. But...since he's a sensitive, that boy's in big trouble."

"Can you feel who's causing all this?" Hook asked.

Michael nodded, gulped, and said, "But you're not gonna like it."


	2. Secret Passage

Secret Passage

Bae coughed again as Morraine lay him on Rumpelstiltskin's desk. "Just breathe," she said. "Breathe deeply and evenly." He nodded and commenced obeying her instructions. She kissed him on the forehead and walked into the front of the store. The woman was still perusing the streets. What was she waiting for? Morraine wondered. Whatever it was, it would have to wait until she stopped trying to kill Bae.

Morraine chewed her lip. There was much to do and she had no idea how much time she had. She had to get herself and Bae back into the Enchanted Forest and to Rumpelstiltskin. She had to protect Bae from the strange woman's deadly magic. She had to help lead the Merry Men, or lead them outright if Bae was still too ill, against the soldiers of Wonderland and whoever else wanted them dead and gone.

She suddenly remembered the Ogre War, after the incident the night of her arrival. She was given a weapon and sent into the trenches to die, but she had a reason to live: she had learned the previous night, in a roundabout fashion, that she was now free to marry whoever she chose, and she chose Bae, long before she knew she was to marry anyone else. That gave her enough hope to sustain the wounds she took during the two weeks between when Bae was supposed to have joined her and Rumpelstiltskin's rescue of the children on the front lines.

That same calm settled over her again as she watched the woman. She opened a window, nocked an arrow, and took aim.

But the woman noticed before Morraine could fire, flicked her wrist, and sent a large chunk of the wall flying, Morraine with it. "M?" Bae asked in a strangled voice. Morraine ran to the back office. "What's happening out there?" He struggled to sit up, but she gestured for him to stay down and began her search of the wall. "What're you looking for?"

"If anything, your father's paranoid," she said. "There's a hidden door or something around here somewhere."

"Try..." He gasped. "She's close."

"Try where, Bae?" Bae gestured to the wall immediately behind the desk.

"Of course," she whispered. "Brilliance." She moved to the wall and tapped on it. Bae gasped again. "Hold on." She spotted a crack in the wal, braced herself against one side of it, and pushed. the wall gave an inch or so. "We're almost there. We're going to be fine."

"Oh, there you are," the woman said from the curtained doorway. Bae was shaking, and his face was contorted in agony. Morraine grabbed him and deliberately ran into the wall. This time the wall gave completely, and she turned and pushed the makeshift door closed against the woman's magic. She managed this to a particularly violent spell and sank to her knes, panting. "It's going to be alright," she said to Bae, lying in a heap on the stone floor. "I won't let her near you." He nodded and gave himself to a brief but violent coughing fit. She waited for a moment before slowly retreating from the door and picking him up.

"Where're we going?" he asked when they started down the tunnel.

"Away from that woman," she replied.

"Other than that."

"No idea." He nodded. "Try not to use to much energy, alright? You're probably very weak, and I know you've been very ill. Now, I need you to stay in a magic-free environment. I'll handle everything else."

"What if you get captured?"

"Then I'll fight my way out. Baelfire," she said in a low voice, "right now, my top priority is you."

"What if you can't fight your way out? What if she kills you?"

"Bae, stop thinking too much. It's not good for you right now. You're in how much pain?"

"M, while you're worrying about me, someone needs to worry about you, and it looks like that someone's going to be me." He stumbled slightly.

"There. That proves my point."

He took a few deep breaths. "I'm not a senile old bat. I can think and recover at the same time."

"If she finds you, you're as good as dead."

Bae nodded, and Morraine eased him into a sitting position against the wall before positioning herself next to him.


	3. Extraction Team

Extraction Team

"Where's the party?" August asked.

Belle shrugged on her cloak and plucked her book off the table. "I need your help getting to the bridge as fast as possible," she said.

"It's about Bae, isn't it?"

"Yes. He's in bad shape."

"You're gonna need this." He handed her a helmet, and she strapped it on and followed him outside to his bike. "Hold on tight." He sped off down the path.

OUAT

"Must be a strong sensitive," Zoso said, "if what you say is true."

"If what Michael says is true," Jesse corrected. "If he's in as awful a way as Michael says, then he needs you, no matter how badly contact with magic will hurt him."

"If he's got a sensitive's ailment, he needs to recover first."

"But he's trapped. He can't go anywhere without getting very, very sick."

"So how do we get him back?"

"We eliminate the threat."

"Hence the knives?"

"Yep."

She stopped him at the edge of the clearing. They were now deep in Sherwood proper, and she spotted August and a woman on a bike. She guessed the woman was Belle by the dress, and she nodded to him to approach gingerly. Still, he stayed behind her.

"Who's that?" August asked.

"Zoso," Jesse replied. "Technically his ghost, because he was the Dark One before Rumpelstiltskin."

"I didn't exactly manage to fight earlier, so I still owe the kid a favor," Zoso added.

"Oh," Belle said, blinking for a moment. "I think Rumpelstiltskin may have told me about you."

"Maybe."

"Well, how about we all plunge into this bridge and go from there," August said. Jesse and Zoso looked at each other and nodded both to each other and to August. August put the bike in gear again and rode toward the center of the clearing. The bike and both passengers dropped through the snow. Jesse and Zoso followed to a sharp landing in the town square. August had parked on the curb opposite an unfamiliar car, and both he and Belle dismounted. "Looks pretty deserted," he said.

"You can say that again," Zoso replied. "Where would the kid go to hide? And what is he hiding from?"

"Quite frankly I don't want to find out the answer to the latter," Jesse said. "As to the former," here she gestured to the pawn shop. "Belonged to his father when they were here." The four walked toward the shop, but Jesse stopped them, studying a hole in the facade. "Whoever's making Bae sick was here. It takes pretty wicked magic to do this."

"That or you have to be, what, two hundred pounds and built like an ox?" August added, examining one of the edges of the hole.

Jesse stepped over the edge and studied the remainder of the pawn shop. "Aside from what was pushed aside, rest of the place is intact. Definitely not some two-hundred-pound ox man."

"So what're we left with? Wicked sorcerer?"

"Or sorceress. Zoso, feel anything?"

Zoso paused, then said, "Whatever it is, it's at odds with the atmospheric magic. That kid's gonna be out of whack for a long, long time."

Jesse nodded and walked to the back office. Parts of it were dishevelled, indicating a general path to the wall behind the slightly askew desk.

The second she took a step toward the wall, some invisible hand closed around her throat and lifted her into the air. She gasped and threw her hand behind her. The power came unbidden but responded precisely as she needed it to, and she sank to the floor. Panting, she turned toward August, Belle, and Zoso. "Is this she?" Belle asked, gesturing to a woman encased in ice up to her bust.

"What is the meaning of this?" the woman demanded as she struggled against her prison.

"You attack me, I fight back," Jesse said. "It's a matter of principle."

"It's her," Zoso said.

"You really like destroying people, don't you, from the inside out? Does that make it more fun? Is that it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the woman said.

"That's what they all say, and trust me, I know."

"You ever gonna let me out of this ice?"

"Depends on how good the info you give us is, so when I ask questions, you better answer if you want to get out. Let's begin, shall we? Why are you here?"

"I'm waiting for my daughter. She hasn't returned from the Enchanted Forest yet."

"What is this daughter's name?"

"Rachel."

"And who is this Rachel?"

"A queen, a magnificently powerful queen like her sister."

"What was her sister's name?"

"Regina."

"So your name is Cora," Zoso said. Cora nodded. Jesse waved at the base of the ice casing, solidifying it against the elements.

"Alright, you just made yourself a special case," she said. She turned to Zoso and asked, "What do you know?"

"Hates both her kids but wants them to marry well and for some weird reason pitted them against each other during their childhood."

"Both girls, I assume?"

"Yep."

Jesse turned back to Cora and slapped her across the face. "Before, I'd have granted you a little grace. Now, you disgust me." She turned on her heel and walked back into the back office. She made her way to the wall and pushed against it. It budged, and it continued to give as she moved in the way she was going. It had been used recently. "This way," she called. Belle, Zoso, and August were behind her almost immediately. The door open, Jesse added to Zoso, "Until we know more, I'll need you to stay here."

"'Kay," he said with a nod. When the other three continued down the tunnel, he turned to face the office.


	4. Fighting Their Way Out

Fighting Their Way Out

Bae's eyes flickered open. He felt the residual energy keenly, and he couldn't help but wonder who was there. Carefully, he worked himself into a sitting position and looked around. Despite the severe lack of light, he could see the silhouette of Morraine next to him. She looked almost like she was sleeping. "Hello?" he asked. "Are you awake?"

"Yes," she replied. "Making sure I'm not dead?"

"Yeah."

She chuckled softly. "I appreciate that."

"Thank you."

Footsteps echoed against the walls. Morraine started to her feet and urged Bae to stay down, but he stood anyway. "Who goes there?" she asked.

"Hello?" Belle asked.

"It's us," Bae said.

"You're both well?"

"So far as we know."

"Good."

"What're you doing here?" Morraine asked.

"We're here to rescue you."

"We?" Bae asked.

"August, Jesse and myself."

"Well, you've found us," Morraine said. "How do you propose to get us out? Any contact with the woman out there could kill him."

"Not like she's in much of a position to move," Jesse said.

"How long will that ice hold out, do you think?"

"Long enough."

"Well, if we're going to get out, we'd better do it now." She walked up the tunnel. Bae, August, Belle, and Jesse surrounded her.

Bae stopped at the threshold, already anticipating what the woman in ice would do to him. Zoso stepped between the two. "Jesse, how long?" August asked.

"Long enough," Jesse replied. "Zoso, can you bind her for a bit?" Zoso waved a hand toward the woman. Ribbons of power flowed from his fingers to her frame and wrapped around her.

"Hope that does it," he said. August led them around the woman, Morraine, Bae, and Zoso trailing somewhat. Bae held his breath as he passed the woman, waiting for the agony, but it never came. He relaxed and moved quickly around her and out of the shop, along with the others.

"This is not over," the woman cried.

"Well, that went well," Belle said once they reached the square.

"That's why I'm worried," Zoso replied.

"That doesn't sound good," Bae said.

"It's not."

OUAT

"Anything new here?" Tink asked. She, Hook, and Peter sat around the fire in the main hall.

"A search party left earlier for the kids trapped in Storybrooke. That's all I know right now." She nodded.

"What now?" Peter asked.

"We're kind of stuck," Tink said. "We can wait or we can venture out and risk capture or death, or we can stay and risk starving out if they find this place and think she's here. Then there's the risk of what happens to us when we go to Storybrooke. Anything that's keeping Robin Hood trapped with a sensitive's disease, I don't exactly wanna meet."

"So what exactly do we do?"

"I...don't know."

OUAT

Bae turned to face the pawn shop. A burst of energy nearly destroyed what wasn't bolted down in and around the pawn shop. Bae clapped his hands over his ears to avoid the ringing of his ears, and he sank to his knees and hissed through his teeth. Morraine pulled him into her arms and moved toward the center of the square.

Zoso and Jesse moved toward the remains of the pawn shop as the woman strode out to the street for a stand-off.

"Our bows," Bae whispered.

"You cross," Morraine said, pushing him toward the bridge. Bae watched her run around the scene and disappear inside the ruins before turning to the bridge.

"Come on," August said, guiding the boy by his upper arm. "Let's get you somewhere safe." Together they stepped off the square and passed through the bridge into old Sherwood. Bae panted and relaxed against the snow, and he leaned back into August, who responded by wrapping an arm around him. "It's okay now. See?" Bae nodded. "You just relax, okay? You just relax." He nodded again and closed his eyes, and soon he was asleep.

OUAT

Jesse threw a glance on her shoulder and then said to Cora, "It's over. He's gone."

"It's not over until I say it's over," Cora replied, flicking her wrist at them. Zoso and Jesse held up their hands at the same time, sending the energy harmlessly off, or almost harmlessly, as Morraine, caught unawares, stumbled back before the shock wave could touch her. After it passsed, she all but ran back to the square. Jesse noticed the two bows almost instantly.

"You two going to be alright?" Morraine asked.

"Should be," Jesse replied.

"Good. Survive for us, alright?"

"We will."

Morraine nodded to them and walked to the center of the square; soon she, too, passed over the bridge. Jesse waited until this sensation passed before focusing on Cora. "Do you feel what I feel?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Zoso replied. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Oh, yeah. Let's do this."

He smirked, and they both closed their eyes. "You sure?" he asked in a low voice.

"I do this with Tuck all the time."

Their magicks mingled, and they opened their eyes after a long moment. Cora had prepared a spell for them and threw her arms out. The two felt nothing as it passed them by. "What the..." she asked, eyes wide and in the process of stepping back.

Zoso and Jesse barely exchanged a glance but moved in sync with each other. They raised their arms and inhaled, and on the exhale they sent magic out toward her. It was enough to send her flying backward and into the windshield of her car.

Jesse's knees buckled, and she almost doubled over. "Wow," she said through her breathing. "That was kinda cool."

"We better leave," he replied. "Before she wakes up." He turned and walked toward the bridge, and Jesse followed.


	5. Recovery

Recovery

"How is he?" Morraine asked as she walked over to August.

"Asleep, but fine," August replied.

She tossed the bows to the ground and lay next to Baelfire, facing both him and August. She stroked Bae's face and brushed some of the snow from his hair. "You're safe now," she whispered to him. "You're okay." Her fingers curled into his neck, and in his sleep he tilted his chin toward her fingers. She smiled and moved closer to him.

"Jesse and Zoso?"

"On their way. They're fighting that woman, though, so it could be a while, if they come back at all."

"Can't kill what's already dead," Zoso said from behind them. Jesse stood beside him.

"How'd it go?" Morraine asked.

"We did awesome," Jesse said. "Not gonna lie." Morraine laughed. "So, I see you guys got out okay. How is he?"

"He's doin' alright," August replied.

"Hope so. That blast could've killed him."

"She's not dead, so if we stay here, we're kind of screwed," Zoso said.

"He's right," August said, pushing himself to his feet. He picked Bae up and then turned to the forest. "Lead the way," he said to Morraine.

"Are you leaving your bike?" she replied.

"Best it stays there. It couldn't have lasted much longer here, anyway."

"Let's go," Jesse said, disappearing into the forest. Morraine and August followed. Zoso disappeared into a cloud behind them.

OUAT

Tink turned her head to Hook, who had been watching her patiently for she didn't know how long. He slowly spun an empty shot glass about its vertical axis. "Y'know what I realized just now? A lot of weird stuff is happening all around us, and we're supposed to accept it like it's normal, but it's not."

"Care to elaborate?"

"This force appearing in Storybrooke, coupled with the force leaving Wonderland in the form of the Queen of Hearts, subsequently kidnapped by Rumpelstiltskin and taken to parts unknown. And small stuff, too. Don't rib me for poking around in his mind, but Peter Pan thinks that someone's putting thoughts in his head, and Nova and I both know how dead set against relationships between fairies and mortals the Blue Fairy is. And her interest in August and Baelfire, and her involvement with Peter Pan, those should be put under the lens, too." As she spoke, she sat up. Hook's hand had stilled on the tabletop. "Jas, you're thinking something. I can tell."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Just when you thought this was all cut and dry."

"Jas, we have to figure out what's what. The Queen of Hearts and the force in Storybrooke are connected, most likely, so we have to figure out how. We also need to find a way to quarantine the force so it can stop making sensitives sick. Those should be our top priorities. Next on the list is how we help your son, including figuring out whether or not the Blue Fairy and his foreign thoughts are connected, as the theory goes. Thirdly, our investigation into the Blue Fairy will have to continue no matter what we find there. She's connected to potentially all of us, and I don't like it."

"Why not?"

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Besides, I think I might have the proof that she's up to something."

"Remember your list of priorities?"

"Yeah, we can deal with this later. Now, let's start at the top of the list. What do we know about the Queen of Hearts and the force in Storybrooke?"

OUAT

August lay Bae down in a clearing and faced Morraine and Jesse. "Let me guess. Our friend disappeared on us," he said.

"Probably fore the best," Morraine replied. "We don't know how much magic he can feel before he relapses."

"Either way, though, we'll need to get him back to his dad's place," Jesse said. "Sensitive's disease or no."

"Think he can take it?" August asked.

"There's more compatibility between fairy dust and whatever that woman's using, so if he does get sick, he won't get as sick."

"Is that good?"

"It's the best we can hope for."

"Then it's good."

Jesse nodded. Morraine turned to the forest and studied it a moment before saying, "You two stay here. I'll be back with food." She set off.

"So, you're the expert," August said to Jesse, who nodded. "Got a plan?"

"Yeah. We get to the Dark Castle by hook or by crook."

"Speaking of, is that the guy with the hook hand that roams the castle with the ex-fairy?"

"Yeah, that's him." August nodded. "You make sure you eat something, puppet boy, because we have a long, ardurous journey ahead of us." She turned to face the forest and paused for the soft breeze moving over her skin. "Better start a cooking fire," she said. "For this, you might wanna stand back."

OUAT

Bae stirred to the smell of a fire and a cooked rabbit. "Saved you a bit," Morraine said, passing him a strip of smoked rabbit meat.

"Thanks," he muttered, sitting up and taking a bite. He studied the three faces around him and asked about Zoso.

"Left," August replied, "but we all kinda figure you can only handle so much right now." Bae nodded. "You feelin' alright?" He nodded again. "Good. Glad to hear it, kid."

Bae smiled. "I like when you call me that." August smiled in return and gave the kid a playful but soft slug on the shoulder.


	6. Information Sharing

Information Sharing

Tink walked onto the highest balcony in the castle and looked out over the Enchanted Forest, bathed in the light of the setting sun. She took a deep breath and stepped onto the railing. Then, with a thought of the captain in her heart, she stepped into the air.

The fall to her death that part of her anticipated didn't happen. She released the breath she'd been holding and began to laugh and cheer, and then she circled the castle, laughing all the way.

Hook opened a window and leaned out to watch her. He laughed and flew out to join her. "May I have this dance?" he asked.

"You may," she replied, turning to face him. They spun about each other in the air, and he put his hand on her waist. His hook he was careful to turn away from her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and slid close to him. "I can fly," she whispered. "I can fly." He spun her into the air, and she returned, giving him a kiss which quickly deepened as they wrapped their arms around each other.

The kiss broke off, and he whispered, "It must be such a relief. I saw the worry in your eyes."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"It's not my place to ask."

She rubbed her nose into his neck and said, "I think I figured out how the Queen of Hearts and the force in Storybrooke are connected. It clicked last night, long after we finished talking about it."

"Proceed."

"They're related, by blood. The force in Storybrooke is a person, and this person feels the same way the Queen of Hearts does. That means that, if the Queen of Hearts was kidnapped, then the force in Storybrooke is looking for her but would also have to contend with people there looking for Rumpelstiltskin, i-e Robin Hood and Morraine. Since Robin Hood's a sensitive, though, he'd be made very sick. The force's presence doesn't mix well with the magic of true love."

"I'm sure. Pure good and pure evil are complete opposites."

"That leaves quite a list of names, though. Regina and Rumpelstiltskin are out, both being here and under nearly constant watch by somebody. Maleficent, last I heard, died under the Storybrooke Library as a dragon. Of course, there's Regina's mother and half-sister, Cora and Rachel respectively, but both seemed to disappear under the web a long time ago."

"Unless this is them resurfacing."

She squeezed him and grabbed his jacket. "You're a genius," she said.

"Thank you, but, heh, I'd hardly say that."

"Let me think that for a little bit, because my head hurts a little."

He sighed and slid his hand up her shoulder. His other arm wrapped more tightly around her waist. "That's what I'm here for," he whispered. "Anything you need."

"All I need is you, and so help me if anyone comes between us there's gonna be hell to pay." She looked him squarely in the eye now. He started to laugh. "I'm serious."

"I know," he said. "That's what I love about you, among other things." He kissed her again.

She stared into his eyes for a moment. "Has anyone ever told you how enchanting you are?"

"No, but I appreciate the compliment." She smiled and kissed him a third time. By then, they were well above the roof of the Dark Castle.

OUAT

Bae stood gingerly and tested himself at that point. Finding that he was perfectly stable, he walked about the camp. Then he sat down at his place at the embers. August, Jesse, and Morraine were all asleep in the snow. The rabbit carcass had been tossed into the forest and left to the beasts within. He looked up at the familiar stars, slightly altered in position by four centuries, according to his father, who had spent all that time looking for him while he spent six months in Sherwood.

He lay back to get a better look at these stars, as always amazed at their sheer numbers. He remembered the stories he made up for himself and his father, about the stars as an army. The army was good, of course, and they always marched down and saved the good people when the forces of evil had too much power. When everything was returned to normal by their interference, they returned to the sky to shine down on everyone and remind them that they would always be there when things fell out of balance again.

What if good got too powerful? his father once asked. Then the space between the stars came down as an army, Bae had replied. That way everything can be balanced, up there and down here.

He smiled to himself. He'd have to share this with August at some point.

August almost always called him 'kid', except when it was serious. It made Bae feel like he wasn't alone in the fight, as a leader often was, and it made him feel like August's little brother. That thought made him smile even more. He had a brother, after a fashion, a girlfriend, his father, and a could-be mother. He felt like his life was coming together like the pieces of a puzzle, and the picture looked like it was going to be beautiful.

His eyes fluttered closed.

OUAT

The four of them arrived a day later and were all but pulled into the main hall of the Dark Castle by Belle. "Is everything alright? How do you feel? What happened to you?" She asked amid a slew of questions as he held his son by the shoulders.

"Please, be careful. I've been very sick, and I can feel you from across the room as if you're right next to me," Bae said. Belle stepped back.

"How did you get out?" Bae told his tale as briefly as possible.

"All magics are alike here, pretty much," Bae replied. "I should be alright."

"It's a woman," Jesse said. "Her name is Cora."

"So we're right," Tink said.

"You figure this out?"

"We developed the theory," Hook replied. "We just didn't know if it was correct or not."

"And apparently it is," Tink added.

"Well, that's good. That means we're doing better than we were," Jesse said. "What else does this theory of yours have going for it?"

"That woman, Cora, is somehow a blood relation of the Queen of Hearts."

"Such as, mother?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, so what do we do about it?" Hook asked.

"She's there because she's waiting for her daughter," Jesse replied. "That means we need to find Rumpelstiltskin and convince him to help us bait Cora. We've gotta do that before anything anything else because if we don't and this backfires, we've got nothing, and we die."

"You're in luck," Tink said, "because I can fly."

"I thought you gave that up."

"I gave up being a fairy. I just didn't know what came with it." Jesse nodded. "Well, how about Jas and I go find Rumpelstiltskin and you guys make sure nothing else changes?"

Morraine shrugged, Bae said, "I don't have much choice," the Lost boys looked at each other and then nodded to the ex-fairy, and August nodded resolutely and stepped up so that he stood at Bae's side.

"'Kay, then," Tink said. She turned to Hook and said, "Let's go." He smiled, and they walked out of the main hall.


	7. The Talks

The Talks

"So, Miss Bell, where are we headed?" Hook asked.

She pulled up and paused. Then she said, "There," and pointed due north.

"Marshaltown?"

"Way past Marshaltown, and deep inland. I think in Aurora's resting place."

"Why?"

"Not a clue. Come on." She flew in the direction she indicated, and Hook followed.

"What do we hope to find?"

"Rumpelstiltskin and hostage."

"And you hope to convince him into helping us bait Cora?"

"Yes."

"How, without paying much of a price?"

"I figure if I can convince him that it's for his son's safety and the betterment of his health, he'll do anything and I won't have to lie very much."

"And you think that'll work?"

"He kidnapped her because she threatened Robin Hood. I'm pretty sure it'll work."

"Alright."

"You think you can do this?"

"I'm with you. With you, I can do anything." She smiled. "We're going to need that endurance, I fear, because I doubt these women are going to go down without a fight."

"Well, if we don't do anything, we might not be able to. We won't get another chance, unless we went on the offensive ourselves, and I really doubht that's going to work."

"You're right," Hook said.

"Surely you have some tactical advice to add," Tink replied.

"What can I tell you that you haven't learned from me in the past?"

"Depends on what we talk about."

"How so?"

"I don't know shit about poetry or music, and quite frankly I really don't want to, besides listening to you read or play it, but when it comes to combat, we've been at it a long time. I'd be hard-pressed to find a battle topic we didn't cover at some point."

"Really? I don't seem to recall us ever discussing strategy on a land mass larger than an island."

"Doesn't it work the same, but bigger?"

"Not really."

The duration of the flight passed as a question and answer session on tactics, which considerably shortened it for both parties, and Hook was somewhat surprised when Tink stopped him. The castle before them was in ruins, but the domes, columns, and walls were still intact. "We're here," she said.

"Oh," he replied. They landed gently, and Tink followed the sense of the Dark One through the deserted castle. As they walked down a long, narrow hallway, he asked, "Who lived here?"

"It used to be Aurora's family, a long, noble line. It produced many fine men and many beautiful women, but sadly they were expected only to sing and be pretty. A female warrior in the family was unheard of. Some say that's what caused the demise of the family, because Aurora, the sleeping princess, couldn't or wouldn't defend herself against Maleficent. Her family was killed shortly thereafter, and that was the end of that."

"Strange family. Have I heard of them?"

"Maybe. Maybe it was one of your family members. Any corsaing family worth their flag would've had to do business with them at some point. At the height of their power they controlled Marshaltown."

"Ah, yes, I remember them now. Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem." They turned a corner. "The castle fell to ruin, and now it's a popular hiding place for various nasties, which I doubt we'll meet just yet because the Dark One's here."

"Do you think this'll work?"

"It'll have to, or we'll need a plan on the fly, and you said it yourself, that doesn't always work." She pushed the already ajar door more open and walked inside. Tied to a column was the Queen of Hearts, and standing before her, now turning to the intruders, was Rumpelstiltskin.

"What are you two doing here?" Rumpelstiltskin asked.

"We can get Cora out of Storybrooke and back here," Tink replied, "but we need you both. She's waiting for her," she gestured to the hostage queen, "thinking she'll come to that world at some point in the near future. I don't think she's realized that her daughter's a hostage of the Dark One, and if she has, I don't think she knows why."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Keep holding her, but let's say we bring her to the bridge to Storybrooke. If this blows up in our faces, that's our best shot at containing it."

Rumpelstiltskin stepped forward. "You can give Cora to me in exchange for this?"

"This is our way of getting you to her."

He looked from her to Hook, carefully placed behind her. Then he nodded. "Just give me the plan."

OUAT

Morraine saw Jesse, Rufio, and Slightly off as they led their respective groups deep into the Black Forest, to old Sherwood, and then she retreated to Bae's room. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Better than I've been in a while," he replied, looking up at her from where he sat on the bed.

She sat next to him. "That's good. This is almost over."

"I know. I can feel it. One more fight left, and then the bridge will be safe again."

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Everything's going to be just fine." He leaned into her, his head on her shoulder.

"I kind of wish I could see this."

"We can't take you too close to the bridge. Your health is at stake right now." Bae nodded. "Just relax, alright? Everything's going to be fine. I'm sure of it." She squeezed gently.

"Remember that night in Storybrooke?" he asked. "When we were alone in the room Papa reserved for me?"

"Yes, very well. Why do you bring it up?"

"I was reminded of it just now." She nodded and chuckled, and there they sat in comfortable silence.


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue

Rumpelstiltskin unceremoniously dropped the Queen of Hearts, still bound and gagged, at the edge of the clearing of old Sherwood. She stumbled her way to her feet. He could feel many of the Merry Men at his back, all but encircling the clearing and the bridge. He looked at Tinker Bell, who nodded her encouragement, and he stepped up as close to the edge of the bridge as he could without being inadvertently sent over. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," he sang.

The snow caved into the bridge, and a column appeared out of the center. Moments later, Cora, in all of her glory, appeared, floating above the bridge. "Yes?" she asked.

"This is too easy," Jesse said to Tuck.

Cora glanced at the queen, but Rumpelstiltskin stepped between the two before she could do anything and said, "Ah. I seem to remember you intentionally causing harm to someone I care about, and I can't let that stand."

"What do you want?" Cora asked.

Behind his back, Rumpelstiltskin signalled to Tink, who signalled to Jesse, who in turn signalled the rest of the Merry Men. "I want you to stay exactly where you are." She raised her eyebrows.

Jesse fired.

OUAT

Bae immediately went to the window. "What're you doing?" Morraine asked. "Do you feel something?"

"Yes," he replied.

OUAT

Several other Merry Men fired their shots, and the woman sank onto the snow. Rumpelstiltskin cut the Queen of Hearts loose without looking at her and said, "You're free to go."

"You're not gonna kill me?" she asked in her raspy voice.

"No."

She nodded to him and disappeared in a puff of smoke as she turned to walk into the forest. "Is that it?" Jesse asked. She was the first of the Merry Men to emerge from the forest.

"Unless there's anything else you need to do."

"It feels like there should be. Doesn't it?"

"Depends. Jesse, you're from a family where everything is complicated and has ulterior motive after ulterior motive. There are simple things in this world."

"Is this one of them?"

"Quite frankly, yes." Rumpelstiltskin turned and walked into the forest. The other Merry Men promptly followed. Jesse stared at the woman in the snow, and Tuck stared at her.

"We better go," he said. He started back into the forest. Then and only then did Jesse follow.

OUAT

Bae sank to his knees and leaned back, turning so that he faced the room. "Freedom," he whispered as he relaxed against the wall. "Sweet freedom."


End file.
